Multi-purpose cleaning agents are designed to clean several different types of washable hard surface. The benefits of multi-purpose cleaning agents are that they offer consumers a cleaning product that can be used throughout the majority of the house. For example, multi-purpose cleaning agents may be used for wiping down and cleaning work surfaces, bathroom surfaces such as floors, walls, windows, kitchen equipment, etc.
A large variety of cleaning compositions intended for cleaning hard surfaces, such as the surfaces usually encountered in kitchens and bathrooms, is known in the field.
The products for cleaning hard surfaces usually referred to as multi-purpose cleaning agents are products whose main attribute is their efficacy for cleaning all kinds of surfaces, although the odour, the anti-grease effect, the price, the quality and the practical use are also very important.
Multi-purpose cleaning agents contain ingredients that act as humectants for water-insoluble soiling, for example oils, waxes and grease particles, reducing their affinity with the surface undergoing cleaning and keeping all the substances in suspension until they are eliminated, for example by rubbing a fabric.
These properties are further improved by means of the starting materials used in the composition, such as surfactants, solvents, sequestrants, alkaline agents, solubilizers, preserving agents, bactericides, fragrances, dyes and water. The solvent contained in these formulations is important in the final application of this type of product, on account of its impact on the use, the toxicity and the final dry effect.
Solvents are of fundamental importance in formulations of this type, since they act with the surfactants in reducing the surface tension of water and in solubilizing the water-soluble and water-insoluble soiling materials. Moreover, as they are amphiphilic molecules, they act as micelle promoters, which reduce the repulsion of the hydrophilic heads of the anionic surfactants. They also control evaporation and have the capacity of acting as hydrotropes by changing the polarity of the suspension/solution. Furthermore, solvents and alkaline agents increase the transparency of the system.
Consequently, there is ongoing research into novel and more efficient solutions for multi-purpose household cleaning products.